Door-operating device for hopper-bottom cars.



No. 648,884. Ptented May l7 |900. C. T.SCHOEN &`J. M. HANSEN. D003 OPERATING DEVICE FR HUPPER B-'|'TJM .`|ARS.

(Application filed Nov. 9, 1899.)

2 Sheets-Sheet I.

(No Model.)

No. 648,884. Patented May s`, |900. c. T. scHoEN @L J. M. HANSEN. D003 OPERATING DEVICEFUR HOPPEB BOTTOM (Huis.

(Application iled. Nov. 9, 1899.)

2 Sheets-Sheet 2'.

(No Model.)

l YUni-T 'casan e?? 'uQoaf-oPEn-'ING nevica ron' HoPPEa-BOTTOM GARS'.

'i' I. f SPEGJIQIGATION forming part of Lettera'Patent No. 648,884, dated May 1, 1900.

l *i f Applicator no@ stammt, 1899. snm so. ismael.. (no man.)

,To all may concern:

Be' it known that we, CHARLES T. SCBOEN,

residing at Philadelphia, in the'county of Philadelphia, and JOHN M. HANSEN, residing at Bellevue, in the county of Allegheny, State of Pennsylvania, citizens of the'United States. have invented a certainnew and useful Improvement in Doonoperating Mechanismfor Hopper-Bottom Cars, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description This invention relates, primarily, to .operating. mechanism for doors which close'in a horizontal plane at the bottom of aflatlbottorn gondola car,although the invention is capablel of use in connection with door-sof a different kind,

In illustration of theinvention we show four pressed-steel doors arranged in twos on oppositesides: of the center 4sills and connectedv in pairstransversely of the 'car and hinged 'at their outer ends, so as to close toward each other, vthe pairs of doors Abeing connected byI chains with a winding-shaft andan equalizer beinginterposed between the' two door-chains and thesingle, chain which is wound about the winding-shaft', so that a positive closing of both pairs of doors may be depended upon a.'t.al1tirnes. A

Having thus stated the' principle of our. invention, we will proceed to describe the best mode in which we have contemplated apply- ,ingthat principle and then will particularly point out anddistinctly claim the part, irnprov'enie'nt, or combination which we claim as or'invention.

In'theaccompanyingdrawings, illustrating our invention, in the several figures of which like .parts are similarly designated, Figure 1 i s a cen tral longitudinal section, and Fig. 2 `a top plan View, of sufficient of a Hat-bottom steel car to show our invention-in place, the

doors being closed. Fig. 3 is a side elevation with the doors open, and. Fig. 4 a cross-sec'- -tion with the doors closed. Fig. 5 is a crosssection of one of the doors on a larger scale, the plane of section being; through the outer hinge. v

The u nderfra'xne and body of the car may be of any approved construction. The cen- -ter sills'q brpreferably of pressed-steel'chanand betweenthese sillsand the sides of the car' aredisposed the hoppers or chutes c, the

lower edges ofwhich are provided with the transverse reinforcing angle-beams d.

The doors may be of pressed steel, o'f invertedcnp`shape,as shown in Fig. -thatis -to say, their 'upper surface A,is solid and flat next the bottonnpf the body, and a continuous depending-hangs extends about the perimeter." Preferably two doors are used for each hopper-'U1' chute, and they are hinged to the beams cl by any suitable hinges, such as f, so as to open .or swing away from each other and to close toward each other; Similarlymcving doors of the hoppers or chutes onopposite sides of the center sills are con\ nected-finl pairs by means of tie-beams g,

which, as shown in Figs. 1 and 5, maybe oiA shaped metal.J 1These tie-beams are riveted 'to the doors at h, Fig'. 2, or otherwise rigidly connected therewith.

. A winding-shaft .1I isfsupported in bearings j in the center and side sills or otherwise 'transversely of the car, and at itsonter end itis adapted to receive a crank or other operating device and has a locking mechanism k, such as a pawl and ratchet, to hold itagainst rotation.

Freni this shaft and between the centersillsdepends a chain orother bandi, from the lowerendo whichsis suspended a pivotal harV m, and from the outer ends of `this bar depend the chains or hands nando,

which are 'connected by eyebolts p or other means to the respective tie-beams' g of the pairs 'of doors, so thatwhen the chain lis.

wound upon the .shaft 'i both doors are positively and fully closed, the bar meeting as an equalizer to take up or compensate for any differences or inequalities in the .chains n and o or the movements of the doors. i

While we have thus described in detail the construction' and arrangement of doors which we prefer to use, we wish to be understood as not limiting our inventionthereto, especially' in 'so far as that invention -A-pertain's to the' equalizing device. What 'we claim is-f l InahopperLbottom gondola car,hopper s ar ranged on opposite sides of the center sills, In testimony vwhereof we have hereunto set doors applied to such hoppers, tie-beams con- ,our hands this 1st day'ot November, A. D; to l nectingthe door s'of opposite hoppers in pairs, 1899. and means to close" the pairs of doors com. o v v CHARLES'L SCHOEN.: Y s '5 prsing a. windingfshaft, chains connecting i JOHN M.- vI'LAI TSEN`.` the paix-sof doors with saidshaft andanequal- Witnesses: v v izng device interposed in said' chains, sub'- C'. E. POSTLETHWAITE,

Staub-'rally as described. W. D. GgORGE. 

